Building effective teams in the workplace starts from the moment decisions related to hiring are set in motion, and continue throughout the developmental processes of a department and organization. Achieving a successful balance of employee skills, knowledge and experience requires a good deal of effort and finesse. Succeeding in building effective teams in your workplace can provide the spark needed for the company to excel now and well into the future.
Instructions
1. Lay the ground rules with a team charter. A team charter will help establish the short- and long-term goals for the team, provide a chain of command for authoritative and leadership purposes and identify the composition of the team. Identifying the composition of the team represents an important step in forming an effective team. Make sure all employees selected as team members fulfill a specific need for the team by matching individual skills and knowledge with specific tasks and duties required to reach team goals.
2. Train all employees on their responsibilities and job duties as part of the team. Once you have identified employees and assigned them a team role, you need to provide them with the resources and training necessary to excel. Encourage active and open communication by offering all team members an opportunity to request additional training or clarification on their roles and responsibilities as needed.
3. Evaluate progress on a continual basis and realign if necessary. Communicate known issues and difficulties with the team and encourage them to participate in solving team problems. Provide each team member with feedback on his contributions to the team through the use of individual performance reviews. This will allow you to identify any areas of weakness and make adjustments as needed. For instance, perhaps the team has provided a specific individual a chance to showcase skills and knowledge not previously known to management and colleagues. This knowledge can provide an opportunity to assign additional duties or responsibilities to the employee that can help the team move toward a goal.
4. Identify your needs when bringing on new employees and look to fill roles left open through promotion, retirement or other employee attrition. Once your team is operating in an efficient manner, bringing the right employees on board is essential to the continued smooth operation of the team.
Tags: skills knowledge, composition team, team charter, team members, with team